Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5,-triazine (RDX) is a cyclic nitramine explosive that is a major component in many military high-explosive formulations. In this study, we developed a real-time TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that targets the xplA functional gene involved in the breakdown/transformation of RDX. The xplA gene, described previously [Seth-Smith, H.M., Rosser, S.J., Basran, A.,...

Pharmaceuticals can enter the soil environment when animal slurries and sewage sludge are applied to land as a fertiliser or during irrigation with contaminated water. These pharmaceuticals may then be taken up by soil organisms possibly resulting in toxic effects and/or exposure of organisms higher up the food chain. This study investigated the influence of soil properties on the uptake and de...

AIMS To evaluate the suitability of a multiplex PCR-based assay for sensitive and rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in soil and water. METHODS AND RESULTS Soil and water samples were spiked with E. coli O157:H7 and subjected to two stages of enrichment prior to multiplex PCR. Detection sensitivities were as high as 1 cfu ml(-1) drinking water and 2 cfu g(-1) soil. Starvation of E. c...

Human urine is a potential alternative fertilizer for agriculture. However, its usage is associated with a risk of spreading pharmaceutical residues to fields. The individual and combined behavior of carbamazepine and ibuprofen was investigated by GC/MS analysis in a greenhouse experiment using ryegrass fertilized with pharmaceutical-spiked urine. Only carbamazepine could be detected in soil, r...

Alfalfa, tall fescue, ryegrass, and celery, some of which were inoculated with the AM fungus Glomus intraradices, were compared for their contributions to phenanthrene (PHE), pyrene (PYR), and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DBA) dissipation in spiked soil. A pot experiment was conducted in which PAHs extracted from soil and plant, quantity of PAH degraders, and plant biomass were evaluated. The result...

In this study, the PAH-degrading bacteria of a constructed wetland collecting road runoff has been studied through DNA stable isotope probing. Microcosms were spiked with (13)C-phenanthrene at 34 or 337 ppm, and bacterial diversity was monitored over a 14-day period. At 337 ppm, PAH degraders became dominated after 5 days by Betaproteobacteria, including novel Acidovorax, Rhodoferax and Hydroge...

A simple and reliable method using on-line purge and trap gas chromatography mass spectrometry has been developed for the determination of the fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-DCP) in agricultural water and soil samples. The proposed analytical methodology was validated in the target environmental matrices by the analysis of spiked blank matrix samples. Limit of detection values of 0.05 microg...

To evaluate the effects of long-term applications of phosphorus fertilizers on mobility of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and heavy metals in agricultural soils, a sandy soil and a loamy soil were spiked with ammonium phosphate at application rates of 0, 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg P per kilogram of soil. A series of 15-cm long soil columns were constructed by packing incubated soils of varyin...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are strong toxic compounds mainly released to the environment during combustion of fossil fuels, and have effects on living organisms, with soil being one their main reservoirs. High PAH levels in soils can interfere plant growth biomass production, causing several losses diversity. In this study, we evaluated co-inoculation Trichoderma viride Funneliform...

abstract in order to study the effects of soil texture and temperature on atrazine degradation, an experiment was conducted in completely randomized design with factorial arrangement and 3 replications. experimental factors included, soil texture (sandy loam and silty clay), temperature(10, 20 and 30 oc) and 4 incubation periods(0, 20, 40 and 60 days). soil was spiked with atrazine at a rate of...